Bedding conventionally sold and used by consumers typically includes multiple items to maintain the sleeping occupants of the bed warm and comfortable. Such bedding, widely sold in the U.S. and many foreign countries, for example includes sheets, pillowcases, shams, comforters and other bedding items.
An important component for comfortable bedding are sheets which cover the mattress and the occupant and such are generally sold and used in sets which typically include a bottom sheet which engages over the mattress upon which the bed occupants lay, and a top sheet which covers the occupants and provides a separating layer between the blankets and other bedding.
Sheet sets, as noted, are conventionally sold in a set or pairs which include a flat top sheet and a fitted bottom sheet which is adapted in a configuration to securely engage over and around the underlying mattress. While a flat sheet may also be employed to cover the mattress, fitted sheets are preferred to such flat sheets because they may be easily and generally securely engaged around and over mattress corners to yield a secure engagement which will not easily disengage like a flat sheet.
However, fitted sheets while providing for a quick and secure covering of the underlying mattress, have some shortcomings when disengaged from the mattress such as when folded and stored with a mating flat sheet. Because the corners of fitted sheets are sewn to form a pocket which includes two side edges which cover the sides of the mattress and an elastic surrounded portion which is adapted to engage under the corner of the mattress, such fitted sheets are not easily folded after laundering. Further, when covering a mattress with such a fitted sheet, it is hard for the user to determine how to properly position the fitted sheet on top of a mattress for proper engagement.
This is because mattresses conventionally have a length dimension which exceeds the width dimension and the fitted sheet is sewn to accommodate this configuration. However, the user generally must guess how to position the fitted sheet on the mattress to engage the sheet corners properly and this is a 50/50 proposition since the fitted sheet dimensions are not discernable when folded or even when positioned atop the mattress for engagement.
An additional issue in more recent years with fitted sheets has arisen due to the varying depth or thicknesses of different brands and types of mattresses. Because fitted sheets are sewn with a fixed pocket at each corner, this pocket formation also fixes the width of the sheet portions which fit on and around the side surface of the mattress. When a fitted sheet encounters a mattress which has a thickness or depth wider than a mattress depth for which the pockets of the fitted sheet have been formed, the fixed sewn corner pockets will either not fit correctly, or they will fit by over stretching. Such over stretching renders the sheet highly prone to disengage.
The fitted sheet herein disclosed and described, provides a flat configuration which is easily folded and stored after laundering. The disclosed sheet also provides corners which will accommodate a much wider range of mattress depths while concurrently providing an easily engaged highly secure biased engagement at each corner.
The forgoing examples of related art, with regard to fitted sheets adapted for mattress engagement, and limitation related therewith, are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.